How to help my stubborn drake heal

[arrowti]

My basic care lately consists of: picking him up and placing him on the ground in the morning so he doesn't fall out of the coop. He doesn't like this, he keeps trying to get around it. Yesterday he mixed up the order (he's usually last out, and this time he was third out) and tried to dive past me in hopes I wouldn't notice his clumsy butt stumbling out. The other day he stood there stuffing his face until my back was turned before diving out the door and faceplanting in the mud. You'd think he was TRYING to hurt himself.

Every night when I redo the water I dissolve one B-Complex pill in the water. I am going to start sprinkling tumeric/cayenne mixed over the feed when he stops to eat. Tumeric used to help him out a lot back when he was first symptomatic. It's just expensive and hard to find, but our store now has it stocked regularly.

During the day I refill the pool and carry him over (there's a lot of rough ground, mostly large grooves in the dirt from tires from moving coops that he always falls into) and he goes swimming and preens himself. I usually also give him feed during this time but he doesn't always eat.

The chickens do not bother him. He still has a reputation of being... well... a male duck. Every time he moves or falls over he scares the chickens near him who flee in terror that he's going to attack. Hopefully that stays the same.

At night I may carry him into the coop depending on how well/poorly he is walking at that time. And/or how much time I have. I'll carry him in if I need to leave right away or something.

All of these are things that can easily do, I'll just make sure to tell them about it.

I did get a picture but it's not a good picture because he won't cooperate. He stood in front of every plant, he stood on a hill, he laid down, he turned his back on me...

You can only slightly see it in this picture. I wish I could find a way to get him some anti-inflammatory medication.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@casportpony can baby aspirin be given to ducks? I had thought it was then read not to? Referring to you since you know meds.

 

[casportpony]

Yes, and I think the dose is ~2.3 mg per pound every 8 hours.

This website says 5 mg/kg which is ~2.3 mg per pound, or ~11 to 12 mg per five pounds. It also says you can dissolve a 325 mg tablet in 250 ml of water, which is what the poultrydvm site says.

http://www.vetfolio.com/veterinary-practice-issues/controlling-avian-pain

This book says the same as the above:
http://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/18.pdf

And another book:
http://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/09_therapeutic_agents.pdf

http://www.armchairpatriot.com/Home-Vet/Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook [Desk Ed.] 6th ed. - D. Plumb (Blackwell, 2008) WW.pdf

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you! @arrowti if you have or can get baby aspirin you might try that for inflamation.

 

[arrowti]

Oh thanks! There's a lot of mixed information on aspirin, I've seen it recommended for ducks and then places that say it's toxic for ducks so I didn't dare risk it.

I'll pick some up for him tomorrow.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sure hope it helps him

 

[arrowti]

I wasn't able to find any baby aspirin at the store... in fact, I could barely find ANY aspirin.

I remember getting aspirin awhile back for a chicken. It's low dose chewable aspirin (orange flavor), 81 mg per tablet. It does have food coloring. Is this alright, or do I need to keep an eye out on whatever says baby aspirin?

 

[casportpony]

I wasn't able to find any baby aspirin at the store... in fact, I could barely find ANY aspirin.

I remember getting aspirin awhile back for a chicken. It's low dose chewable aspirin (orange flavor), 81 mg per tablet. It does have food coloring. Is this alright, or do I need to keep an eye out on whatever says baby aspirin?

I think baby aspirin is 81 mg, but not positive. How much does you duck weigh?

 

[arrowti]

My scale isn't very accurate, I had to weigh myself and then myself holding him and it bounced around a bit. He's between 8-9 pounds, but I'll probably do a dose for 8 pounds. There is a better scale used for weighing our meat birds after the fact but it's missing in action. If I find it I'll try to get a more accurate weight.

 

[casportpony]

My scale isn't very accurate, I had to weigh myself and then myself holding him and it bounced around a bit. He's between 8-9 pounds, but I'll probably do a dose for 8 pounds. There is a better scale used for weighing our meat birds after the fact but it's missing in action. If I find it I'll try to get a more accurate weight.

Okay, so 1/2 the 81 mg three times a day should be okay.